We were lucky to catch up with Alexis Rogers recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Alexis thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
I started my journey in becoming a social worker in 2014 as a freshman at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke while working full time at AT&T. My husband and I are high school sweethearts and at the time we had our very first apartment in which I chose to commute full time to complete my degree in social work. Interesting enough I began my degree as a major in criminal justice with a minor of social work wanting to get into the field of forensic social work or legislative social work positions. I had in my mind that I wanted to work with adults and that I would be unable to work with the population of children due to being an empath not knowing what was in store for me in the next 10 years. I ended up changing my major to the major of social work two semesters into my undergrad program trusting my intuition. It was a challenge to do full time classes while commuting and also a full time job almost an hour away. I remember driving straight from class into work and barley making it to clock in on time, and doing my homework and research papers on my lunch break, and staying up until 2-3am to work on assignments that were due and up by 7am to travel an hour to class just to do it all over again. A degree that was meant to take 4 years took 6 and a half years for me to complete. During my time as an undergrad student; I worked a full time job, commuted back and forth to class, got married, bought a house, gave birth to my two beautiful daughters, and pushed through a global pandemic. Though I had many trials and tribulations throughout my undergrad program, I was determined to walk across the stage and obtain my BSW which I completed while my husband who is my biggest support system and best friend, and my two daughters watched me walk across that stage on May 22nd, of 2021. I felt so accomplished, but already had a plan in mind that I wanted to do more, I wanted to do clinical social work and work with clients hands on in a therapeutic setting. I graduated May of 2021 with my BSW and began classes for my MSW two short months later in which I chose to continue at UNCP. At this time my husband and I sold our first house and were in the process of moving into our current forever home, I was now working part time at AT&T, working towards my Masters in Social Work and doing a internship where I provided extensive case management for women and children before transitioning to a internship in which I was in a clinical setting in a outpatient environment after receiving a scholarship in my grad program. My husband who is one of the most ambitious people I know also was completing his two degrees during this time. I found myself busy to the point where I always had something to do but I never stopped putting my girls and husband first, though I was pulled in many directions my husband and I have always did our best to create our schedules around our girls to get as much quality time as possible which has always been one of my top priorities and that is being their mama. I sacrificed sleep many many nights to stay up and work on homework, projects, case notes, trainings to ensure I lost limited to no time away from my girls while they were awake. My Master’s degree took two years and I graduated on May 5th of 2023 with my husband, family, best friends, and my girl’s in the crowd; I will always hold the core memory of hearing both of my daughter’s voices saying “that’s my mommy, I see mommy, hey mommy” while I lined up to obtain my Masters in social work. During my work at the outpatient facility in Lumberton I was working with children between the ages of 5-18 for various behavioral concerns and diagnoses including but not limited to ADHD, ODD, Anxiety, and Depression. I never saw myself working with children in my career but here I was in a internship where I was a therapist to children, and I felt a feeling of passion, of ambition, and a urge to change the dynamic of the generation I was working with and generations to come. This brings me to where I am in my career today, I am currently a child therapist at Haymount Institute serving children from the ages of 5-18 for various diagnoses. I have found my true passion in my career journey; being a voice for those without one, being an advocate for those in fear, being an ear to listen to traumas, and experiences that were dismissed, and not heard, being the change that shuts down all the stigmas surrounding mental health, and being the role model to show my girls and my brother who I have had the pleasure in raising for over a year that they can also be the change, they can excel no matter how many hats they wear, and that they are absolutely the future.
Alexis, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My name is Alexis Rogers, I am a mama to two beautiful daughters and a handsome well rounded brother that I have the pleasure in raising, a wife to the most amazing, loving, and driven partner anyone could ask for, and a child therapist. I got into the field of social work 11 years ago and it has always been my passion even from a little girl to help the vulnerable and oppressed populations within my community. I remember always growing up saying that when I became an adult I was going “to help people”. Coming from a single parent, low income household where my mom struggled some months to make ends meet I understand exactly what American families feel in a system that is built against them. I always knew I would get into a field where I had the opportunity to help people in my community but I just didn’t know how exactly. Through all of the trials and tribulations to get to where I am today in not only my career but my own personal goals as well I OVERCAME. I proved to myself that no matter what deck of cards you were handed at birth or within your life; with god, faith, a support system, and the ambition to be the change you wish to see you can do anything and I give this wisdom and encouragement to my clients daily. My client population is ages 5-18 with various diagnoses included but not limited to Anxiety, Depression, Trauma and stressor related disorders, ADHD and many more. I meet my clients where they are and always tell them “remember I work for you, you are in the driver seat of your life I am here to help guide you to where YOU want to be”. My clients laugh but they know that I am all about self-determination and will encourage and support them to get to those goals they have inspired within their minds; this will look different for everyone and that’s the beauty of this field. The most rewarding part of my career is seeing my clients bloom and progress, and them being able to know they have overcame and will continue to overcome obstacles to get to where they want to be in therapy and in their daily life. I would choose this career field over and over again if I had to, I have the honor of watching my clients jump over the many hurdles they face in their lifetime and have the courage to push past the stigma of mental health services and show up for their selves and their well being. Watching someone blossom after being faced with so many uncontrollable challenges is such a beautiful thing and can be labeled as indescribable. I am so proud to be apart of this change, and even prouder of each and every one of my clients!
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
My husband and I have a non-profit that teaches life skills such as financial literacy, and life skils to children and adolescents, and work to give back to our community especially during the holidays. I met my husband, my bestfriend in 2012 while we both were still in high school. We started dating early 2013 my senior year of high school and became high school sweethearts. I believe I fall in love more and more as the days, weeks, months, and years go by. I am truly thankful for my husband and all he brings to our marriage, to fatherhood, to our community, to our non-profit that we share together, and to the work he does. He is truly an inspiration to many. We have been together for almost 13 years and have been married for 8 years. Growing up together has been one of the most beautiful things I have been able to experience. It is an indescribable feeling to build a life with someone that you grew up with. My husband and I both come from challenging backgrounds, and I still remember having 3-4 hour long conversations on the phone about how we foreseen our future and how we were going to fulfill these aspirations and create the healthy loving home that we now have for our children. My husband and I share a deep passion to give our children a viewpoint of healthy love, stability, humbleness, and kindness for others. We also share a passion of serving those in a underserved community and work to provide support to those within this population. I truly could not ask for a more intentional, more loving, more inspirational, and down to earth business partner, and husband. His support through my many years of college, through all of the long nights, early mornings, schedule changes, and challenges we faced getting to where we are in our lives today never go unnoticed.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
Being a daughter in a single parent household with siblings that looked up to me, I began working at the age of 14 and worked non-stop until the birth of our first daughter. When I had our first daughter I chose to take a year off of my job at AT&T while still in school getting my Social Work degree, and this was the same with our second daughter as well because I always knew that when I had children they would be my top priority. This was a huge pivot for me because though staying home with my daughters for their first year of life, being there for all their milestones, and the amazing bonding time we were able to share this change was different for me because I had worked since the age of 14 so though I was still in school full time while being a stay at home mom the role was completely different from what I was accustomed to. It took some time for me to understand and accept that the role of a stay at home mom is just as hard, just as much work and time, just as important as working and bringing in income. We were fortunate to be in a predicament where we could go to one income for me to become a stay at home mom for this time. I am forever thankful for this time in our lives and our daughters lives. This also made me realize that though I am now a working mom things are just as challenging and overall mom’s are superhero’s no matter if they are stay at home mom’s or working mom’s; YOU are just as important.
Image Credits
Kat Jessick Photography